All the Details on L&T and HAL Being Approved to Bid on India’s Rocket Privatisation
Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics are among the companies being considered for possible participation in India’s efforts to privatize its small satellite launch vehicle, a source told Reuters, as the government looks for more investment in the booming space market.
The national space organization Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has developed the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) as an inexpensive way to launch satellites weighing up to 500 kg into low orbit.
They serve a booming market for launching satellite clusters for communications and data, where SpaceX and rivals compete.
About 20 companies had submitted expressions of interest for the privatization, the first of its kind under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy push to open up launch and other space businesses to investment.
India aims to quintuple its share of the global satellite launch market over the next decade.
The next step is to open the tender itself, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are not public.
The companies did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Hindustan Aeronautics, also known as HAL, and Larsen & Toubro, an industrial group, already have an agreement with the government to manufacture and supply rockets to ISRO.
Under the deal, the companies will manufacture and supply five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) – often referred to as ISRO’s ‘workhorse rocket’. Deliveries are expected to begin in two years.
ISRO will use the PSLV, which is 44 meters tall, to launch its space-based solar observatory, Aditya-L1 mission, next month.
This launch is ISRO’s first mission since it achieved a historic first by landing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole this week.
The success of Chandrayaan-3 is expected to boost India’s efforts to encourage private investment in space projects. ISRO suppliers and related companies have seen their share prices rise this week.
India’s newly formed space regulatory body, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, known as IN-SPACe, opened bidding for the SSLV program in July by allowing qualified companies to register interest.
It is the first Indian rocket to be fully privatized, meaning that the winner or consortium will take over the entire program, as opposed to the more limited contract to manufacture the PSLV rockets.
